Central Bank Of Bangladesh Intensifies Forex Market Intervention

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) -The central bank of Bangladesh has intensified its open market operations by extending foreign currency support to the commercial banks for settlement of food grains and fuel import bills.

"We have been providing such facilities to the commercial banks on a priority basis to help settlement of import bills, particularly that of petroleum products and essentials, including wheat," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central bank, told AHN Media Corporation in Dhaka.

Under the measures, the central bank sold at least $32 million at market rate directly to three commercial banks on Thursday to meet the growing demand for the greenback, officials said.

The U.S. dollar was quoted at BDT 68.50-BDT 68.53 in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on the day, unchanged from the previous working day, market operators said.

Besides that, the BB provided overdraft (OD) facilities of $25 million to a state-owned commercial bank for settlement of its oil import bills.

The central bank started intervention in the inter-bank foreign exchange market through selling of the U.S. dollar on Oct. 29, which also helped the local currency appreciate against the U.S. dollar.

The BB has since sold $713.50 million to the commercial banks as part of its intervention in the market, the officials confirmed.